Apparatus for producing displays by rotating luminous bodies



Aug; 12, 1941. o, LUTHY 2,252,347

EPPARATUS FOR PRODUCING DISPLAYS BY ROTATING LUMINOUS BODIES Filed Dec.23, 1940 A l 37 E r \38 v INVENTOR. l8

v s k m 1 .3 Sq W Patented Aug. 12, 1941 APPARATUS FOR PRODUCINGDISPLAYS BY ROTATING LUMINOUS BODIES Joseph Otto Luthy, San Antonio,Tex. Application December 23, 1940, Serial No. 371,324

4 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus in which displays are producedbyrotating luminous bodies so as to result in various patterns or designs.The purpose of this invention is to provide such an apparatus that willautomatically change the pattern of a display at fixed periods, with theapparatusarranging its own patterns so no one knows What the nextdisplay may be. This feature tends to hold the interest of thespectator, making the apparatus ideal for use in connection withadvertising, as well as for the playing of games.

The following is a description of my invention. Figure l is a frontelevation of the invention, partly in section. Figure 2 is a horizontalsectional view taken on line 2-2 in Figure 1, showing the mechanicalpart of the apparatus with a wiring diagram. Figure 3 is an enlargedview of the spring contact member 3| and its mount- I in Figure 1 showsa' front view of the housing or cabinet of the apparatus. I4 and I5 arethe display plates,.on which display tubes 3 and I9 are securelyfastened with holddowns 24. 44, 45, 46, and 41 are the terminals of afluorescent tubular lamp, shown as 48. In front of this lamp is mounteda transparent or partly transparent panel 49, on which a message oradvertisement can be written, and which is hereafter called theadvertising panel.

While one of the display tubes as shown in Figure 1 has the outline of atriangle and the other of a square, much greater changes in displays canbe obtained with tubes bent along more irregular lines. The beauty of adisplay may also be enhanced by mounting two or more display tubes ofdifferent colors on a display plate, and this is especially true inlarger sized apparatus; however, a tube or tubes should never overcrowda display plate as this would cause too much fusion of colors while inmotion.

To obtain more colors with the least number of tubes, difierent gradesand colors of glass tubing can be used in making the individual tubes.For example, a tube to be filled with neon gas could be made partly fromclear and partly from dark red or ruby glass tubing, which will resultin two distinct shades of red. A tube filled with argon gas, made ofclear and various shades of yellow glass tubing, will result in lightingeffects of, blue and different. shades of green. A Variation of colorscan also be obtained from one tube by painting parts of it withdifferent .colors .of

transparentpaint. i 1

1 If partor parts of the display tubes are painted with opaque paintVery distinct changes of displays can be obtained from the same set oftubes.

As the beauty of these displays is based largely on stroboscopicactionor efiect, gaseous tubular lamps without any fluorescent coating givethe best results. The reason the fluorescent coating is lesssatisfactory is that it retains part of its glow for a short periodafter the current has been cut off, thereby reducing, or in fact, almostannulling the stroboscopic effect obtained by the rapid interruption oflight.

I in Figure 2 shows the housing or cabinet of the apparatus; 2 the baseor support for the rotating mechanism; 3 a bearing for the main drivingshaft 4. This shaft is hollow and is provided on one end with pulley 5,and on its opposite end'with flange 6 and threads I. 8 shows therotatable supporting member,carrying two display plates. In smallerunits such as shown in the accompanying drawing this rotatablesupporting member can be made of insulating material in the form of astrip of suflicient length and width to permit the mounting of thedisplay plates, while for larger units it may be advisable to make itfrom metal, preferably aluminum for lightness; and it can be of variousforms, such as a strip, disc, crossarm, or any other shape found mostsuitable.

The rotatable supporting member is provided at its center with aflange-type threaded bushing 9 which permits screwing it on to thethreaded end of shaft 4. l0 shows a lock screw or bolt that can betightened against shaft flange 6, thereby locking rotatable supportingmember securely to shaft. II and I2 are hollow shafts, each provided onone end with a flange and on theother end with threads, nuts, andwashers by which they can be securely fastened to the rotatablesupporting member 8. On the inside of each of shafts 4, II, and I2 isfastened a heavy-walled tube made of insulating material, shown as l3 l3I3. The walls of these tubes must be of a thickness and quality ofmaterial that will assure dependable insulation between the shafts andthe conducting parts placed therein.

I4 and. I5 are the display plates, which in smaller units can be made ofan insulating material, while for larger units metal may be preferable.To reduce the weight of a display plate it could'be perforated, orbuiltin the form of a' lattice, or if preferred, of wire nettingstretched over a suitable frame.v If the rotatable supporting member or.the display plates aremade of metaLall conducting partsleading to. andfrom spring contacts 3|, Ma, and 3119 are insulated from the metal.

These display plates are provided with flange bushing l6 and I1, whichhave bores to fit easily on their respective shafts II and I2, and areslightly longer than the thickness of the display plates to prevent thebacks of these plates from rubbing against the nuts or washers of theshafts. As it is important that the display plates rotate as freely aspossible on the shafts of the rotatable supporting member, the bestresults are obtained when the friction of these bearings is reduced asmuch as practicable. Various modifications of such bearings can be usedwithout,

deviating from the spirit of this invention.

Another very important point is the balancing development work I havefound that if the display does not exceed inches in diameter,satisfactory results could be obtained with the rotatable supportingmember whirling at a speed of approximately 250 revolutions per minute,while for a display of about 3 feet in diameter a speed of around 90revolutions per minute was satisfactory. The speed at which the displayplates should rotate is dependent upon the form of display'desired, thetype and form of display tubes, as well as the voltage and frequency ofthe tube current.

37 and 38 show leads from the electric supply line; 39 an adjustableresistance provided with an extra tap 39a. 49 is the step-up transformerto increase the line voltage to that required for of a display plate soits weight is equally.dis-" tributed, as otherwise a heavier part insuch plate would have a tendency to control its position" whenin motion,thereby preventing change of patterns; If it1is found that any part of Va display plate is heavier than others, weight should be added whereneeded to obtain equal balance.

, To reduce vibrationin the apparatus, if two ormore display plates areused they should be as nearly as possible of equal weight and placeduniformly on the rotatable supporting member, On the other hand, .ifonly one display plate is used, suflicient weight should be added to thelighter end of the rotatable supporting member to give the whole a truebalance. I

I8 is a display tube mounted on displayplate l4, while I8 is a displaytube mounted on display plate [5,20 shows the connection from oneterminal-of tube It to bushing I6, while 2| shows the nnee i n r m, h hr t r i el f Said tube to spring contact 3!. 22 connects, one terminaloftube lil to bushing H, while 23 connects the; other terminal of saidtube to spring contact 3lq 24 shows the hold-downs forthe displaytubes.- 25 shows an opening in display plate I4 to:enableloosening ortightening of the lock screw or bolt IQ.

. 26 shows an automatic'flasher such as is used in connection withanimated electric signs of the. gaseous tube type. 21 is the electricmotor-for the operation of the automatic flasher, while 28, 29 and 30are theswitche's controlled by'the automatic flasher. ,The purpose ofthe automatic flasher is to close andop'en some of the electric circuitsin the apparatus at fixed intervals. 'In spite of thecontin'ual'duplicated action of the flasher it will result in continual changes ofthe display. This is made possible by taking advantage ofthe'forces'that are'created by the'whirling of the display plates andthe rotatable supportingmembe'r at various speeds.

3|", 3la,' and 31b are spring contacts conducting the current from therotating conducting plates on the inside of insulated shaft bushings l3l3 I3. 32 and 32 are contact plates held under tension by spring 33' soas to form a solid electrical connection between contact spring 3lbspeeds itis preferable to operate it at the lowest speed required togive the desired results. In my the lighting of the display tubes. 4| isa high tension condenser connected in parallel with the secondaryoutlets of the transformer. To obtain the most satisfactory results fromthis condenser it should be of such capacity as to effect a noticeablechange of frequency of the high tension current even at normal voltage,and a still further change of frequency with voltages below normal,which action generally results in a more pleasing appearance of thedisplay.

7 42 is a choke or balancing coil inserted in the fluorescent tubularlamp circuit; 43 a low tension .condenser also forming part of saidcircuit.

44, .5, 46, and 41 are the leads connecting to the fluorescent tubularlamp terminals of corresponding numbers as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged view of spring contact 3| and its mounting,which is a similar arrangement tov that of the spring contact 3| a. 3lbis also a similar type of contact, forming connectionibetween theinsulated conductor in the driving shaft to one of the high tensionterminals of the step-up transformer.

The electrical connection of the apparatus as shown in Figure 2 is suchthat when the current is turned on and with all three of the automaticflasher switches open it will result in the starting of the flashermotor 21, as well as the lightso the switches thereon will open andclose at different periods and the adjustable resistance can beregulated to obtain the desired illumination of the display tubes duringdetermined periods; I select for an example thefollowing adjustment.

If the cycle of operation of the automatic flasher is to cover a periodof 45 seconds the regulation of theresistance in the primary transformercircuit with flasher switch 29 open should be such'as to reduce thecurrent sufficiently to result in a noticeable reduction of luminosityin the display tubes, and with flasher switch 29 closed it should resultin the increase of current to almostits normal strength. Too bright anillumination of the display tubes should be avoided, as it would onlycause fusion instead of blending of colors when display plates are beingwhirled. The adjustment of th- 'opening and closing of flasher switch 29should be timed so that the period of reduced current in the displaytube circuit is 25 seconds and that ofv in creasedlcurrent 20 Seconds.The opening and closing of flasher switch 30, which controlstheoperation of motor'34, should be timed so that the flow of currentin themotor circuit is interrupted for 4 seconds'during every cycle of theflasher. In other Words, if the length of a cycle of the flashersoperation is 45 seconds, the current to the motor 34 should be on 41seconds and oil 4 seconds. The timing of flasher switch 28 should besuch that it is closed during the period of 4 seconds when flasherswitch 30 is open. i

After the adjustment of the resistance and automatic flasher has beenmade as above outlined, if the current is turned on at a period whenflasher switches 28 and 29 are open and flasher switch 30 is closed, itwill result in the starting of the flasher motor 21 and the main motor34, as well as the lighting of the display tubes .with

reduced current. v

While at the start of the whirling movement the display plates will havesome tendency to rotate on their own axles this movement is rapidlychecked with. the: increase of speed of the rotatable supporting member.When this speed has become uniform it will hold the display plates inalignment toward each other, thereby controlling the-pattern of thedisplay.

The reduced current in the display tube cir-. cult with the action ofthe condenser will pro-- duce a pattern with somewhat sharp outline andmuch activity. If the speed of the whirling movement is kept uniformthepattern of the display will be retained with little or no change until,after 21 seconds, flasher switch 29 closes, thereby increasing theflowlof current to the display tubes so as to cause a soft blending ofcolors. This effect also is retained with little or no change until,after 20 seconds, flasher switches 29 and 30 open and 28 closes. Theclosing of flasher switch 28 will start the lighting of fluorescent lamp48, thereby illuminating the advertising panel 49. The opening offlasher switch 29 will again lower the current supply to the displaytubes, while the opening of flasher switch 30 will cut off the currentfrom main motor 34.

After the motor current has been cut oil the momentum or force resultingfrom the whirling movement of the display plates and the rotatablesupporting member will cause the whole to continue rotating, but with animmediate slackening of speed. As soon as this whirling movementdiminishes nearly to its stopping point the display plates again willhave a tendency to move around their own axles, which breaks up thepattern of the display. In the apparatus I have built the speed of thewhirling movement of the display plates is such that it requires aboutseconds for the rotatable supporting member to reach a dead stop afterthe current to the motor 34 has been cut off. Therefore, since flasherswitch 30 closes within a period of 4 seconds, thereby again startingmotor 34, the whirling movement of the display plates is resumed beforeit has actually reached its stopping point. The acceleration of thewhirling movement of the display plates causes some movement of themaround their own axles, until the speed of the whirling movement hasbecome uniform and suflicient to again hold them in alignment towardeach other, which action results in the forming of a new pattern ofdisplay that in practically every case is different from the onepreceding.

The moment flasher switch 30 closes, flasher switch 28 opens, therebycutting ofi the current in the fluorescent lamp circuit. This completesa cycle of the automatic flashers action, and while its succeedingcycles will consist of the same action, even a slight movement of the.dis-. play plates during each period of reduction and acceleration ofspeed of the whirlingmovement will result in a change of pattern. Fromthe above" explanation it can be seen that it would be practicallyimpossible to foretell what the next pattern will be', which featureholds the interest of spectators.

While the momentary reduction of speed in the whirling movement of thedisplay plates and the acceleration of it is suflicient to 'effectflachange of display, in some cases it may be preferable to stop thewhirling movement entirely and start it again; This wouldbe especiallytrue if the apparatus be used for the playing of gamesin whichtheidisplay plates could be provided with characters or symbols thatwould form patterns While in motion but would be legible when stopped,their position indicating winning or losing. r

On the other hand, if the apparatus is used as an attraction or foradvertising purposes, I believe the momentary reduction of speed inwhirling the display plates to change the pat tern thereon would bepreferable; The reason for this is that the change of display takesplace so quicklythatit is practically impossible to dis cern therealmovements of the display plates before a new pattern is created, whichmakes the action of theapparatus more mystifying and interesting; p Q

If it is desired to bring the whirling movement. of the display platesto astandstill during each cycle of the flasher all thattis necessaryisto prolong the stopping period of the motor 34.;If, it is desired tochange the dispay pattern more often, all that is required is either toincrease the speed of the control disc shaft of the flasher, or useflasher control discs having provisions for more changes. This alsoholds good as to the time period for lighting the fluorescent lamp, sothat if the apparatus is used for advertising purposes it can beadjusted to illuminate the advertising panel as often and for as long asdesired. If a lower priced apparatus should be desired it could be builtwithout the automatic flasher. In such case each time the apparatus isstopped and started again it would result in a change of the displaypattern.

While the accompanying drawing and foregoing speciflcation show anddescribe an apparatus in whichtwo display plates are used, an apparatuscould be built with one, three, four, or more display plates. If onlyone display plate is used its axlef'should be mounted a distance fromthe axle of the rotatable supporting member sothestopping and startingof its whirling movement will result in a change of display.

While "the accompanying drawing and foregoing specification show the useof gaseous tubes as the luminous bodies of display, incandescent or glowlamps of various types, colors, and forms could be used instead. Asincandescent or glow lamps operate on a much lower current voltage butan increased ampere rate it would require an increase in size of thecurrent conducting parts in the lighting circuit; however, as in suchthe rotatable supporting. member. to ,the. bearing of the display plateor plates and-from there to one terminal of. each display tube.

While in the description of. this invention the advertising. panelispartv of the apparatus, if preferred, this panel could be some distanceaway, yet controlled by the automatic flasher in they apparatus. Theflasher switches controlling the illumination of suchpanel could also bemade to control two or morepanels located at different places. Theautomatic flasher could also..be provided with two or more switches forthe controlling of panel lamps, so it would result, during each cycle ofthe flasher, in the illumination of different panels, either multiple oralternate,; each. for a determined period of time. In such arrangementthe use of different colored lamps in the various panels would add toits attractiveness, e

All of the foregoingsuggestions for modification of the apparatuscouldbe carried out without departing in the least from the spirit of thisinvention.

What I claim as new. and patentable is:

1. A display apparatus including a rotary main member, display means,means to movably mount the display means onthe mainmember for free anduncontrolled rotary movements .independently of. the main member,.me ansto drive the main": member only thereby to rotate same andthroughiitsirotation to rotate the displaymeans solelyby; the: forcederived by and from the starting Tand. stopping of. the main member,means for: efiecting said starting and stopping of the :main memberwhereby the rotation of the display; means is .uncontrolled save by suchforce as :it de'rives-fromithe. starting and stopping of themainmember,and said display means havingjitsrweig'ht. equally distributed toprovide equal balance thereof, whereby the pattern of the displaywmeans.issuccessively changed. during said starting and stopping of the mainmember.

2. At display apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein there is aplurality of display means.'. 1 i

::'3.1A displayapparatus in accordance wtih claim 1, wherein the displaymeans is of circular-outline and hasthe axis of rotation at the centerthereof.

4. A display apparatus including a rotary main member, display means,means to movably mount the display means on the main member for free anduncontrolled rotary movements independently of the main member, means todrive the main. member only thereby to rotate same and; through itsrotation to rotate the display means solely by the force derived by andduringtheacceleration and deceleration of the mainmember, means foreffecting said acceleration. and deceleration of the main member wherebythe rotation of the display means is uncontrolled save by such force. asit derives from the acceleration and deceleration of the main member,and said display means having its weight .equallydistributed to provideequal balance thereof,. whereby the pattern of the display. .means; is;successively changed, during ing .said accelerationand deceleration ofthe main member.

' JOSEPH OTTO LUTHY.

